Tea is one of the most commonly consumed beverages in the world and comes in four basic varieties: black, oolong, green and white tea. Tea is traditionally prepared by steeping tea leaves in hot water for a given duration of time until the flavors of the tea leaves are leached into the water. Optimal tea flavors can only be obtained if the tea leaves are steeped in water at the correct temperature and for an appropriate duration of time at that temperature. Each of the basic varieties of teas has different desired water temperatures and steep times required to obtain the optimal tea favors. Specific types of teas can have even more stringent temperature and time requirements to produce an optimally flavored tea.
Typically, tea is prepared by separately heating the water to the desired temperature before adding the hot water to the tea leaves contained in a separate container. Tea can also be prepared by placing the tea leaves in a mesh infuser that is submerged into preheated water. While either method effectively steeps the tea leaves, neither method insures that the hot water is the appropriate temperature for the specific tea variety when the tea leaves are submerged or that the tea leaves are steeped for the correct amount of time.
In addition to the temperature and time considerations in preparing an optimal flavored tea, a parallel concern is minimizing the number of kitchen implements required to prepare the tea. While thermometers and kitchen timers can be used to provide the necessary information regarding water temperature and steep time, a thermometer and timer are additional tools that must be retrieved and replaced in order to properly brew the tea, followed by subsequent cleaning. Additionally, if the tea is being prepared outside the kitchen or at a remote location, the additional kitchen implements may not be readily available or difficult to transport. Similarly, if the tea is being prepared at a remote location, a heat source may not be readily available to heat the water to the desired temperature.
As such, there exists a need for further improvement to a tea making device and related methods of preparing optimally flavored tea.